Spindle with automatic locking means



'June 12, 1962 T PQSPISZEL 3,038,679

' SPINDLE WITH AUTOMATIC LOCKING MEANS Filed April 10, 1961 INVEN UnitedStates Patent 3,038,679 SPINDLE WITH AUTOMATIC LOCKING MEANS Joseph T.Pospiszel, North Broadalbin, N.Y., assiguor to Mohasco Industries, Inc.,Amsterdam, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 10, 1961, Ser. No.101,857 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-68.2)

This invention relates to rotary spindles employed in winding and likemachines for supporting a core during the winding of yarn thereon toform a package. More particularly, the invention is concerned with arotary spindle which is provided with novel locking means op eratingautomatically to prevent rotational slippage of the core on the spindleduring the winding operation, regardless of the direction of rotation ofthe core.

In the winding of yarn upon a core to form a package, slippage of thecore relative to the spindle causes variations in the twist of the yarnand such variations result in imperfections in the fabric, in which theyarn is used. In the case of yarns used for the pile of carpets andrugs, variations in the twist of the yarns frequently produceobjectionable streaks in the pile suflicient to cause the goods to bedown-graded. In order to prevent the slippage of a core on the spindle,it is customary to provide the spindle with projecting longitudinal ribsnear its inner end and to form its outer end with a threadedlongitudinal bore and a diametrical slot extending inward from the end.After a core is mounted on such a spindle, a screw with a conical headis threaded into the bore so that the head of the screw will expand thesplit end of the spindle into tight contact with the core. While such aspindle will hold a core against slippage if the screw is tightenedsufiiciently, it is necessary to remove the screw when a full package ofyarn is to be dofied and the screw must be replaced after an empty corehas been placed on the spindle. The operations described slow up thedotting operation and slippage of the core on the spindle sometimesoccurs because the screw was not tightened sulficiently.

The present invention is, accordingly, directed to the provision of aspindle for use in winding and like machines, which is provided withnovel locking means operating automatically upon rotation of the spindlein either direction to grip a core thereon and hold the core againstslippage. The locking means is actuated by initial slippage of the coreand its locking effect increases with an increase in spindle speed. Inaddition, it is quickly made ineffective upon stoppage of the spindleand does not interfere with the doffing of a full yarn package or thedonning of a new core. These operations thus consume little time and theuse of the new spindle not only improves the quality of the Wound yarnby the eliminatiom of twist variations but also increases the machineoutput by reducing the time required for dofiing and donning.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made tothe accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view inelevation of a conventional winding machine equipped with the newspindle;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view, partly in elevation and partly inlongitudinal section, of the locking mechanism of the spindle;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a spindle with the new locking meansin inoperative position;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional View of a spindle with the new locking meansand a core in place on the spindle, the locking means being shown ineffective position during clockwise rotation of the spindle;

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIG. 4 with the locking means shown ineffective position during counterclockwise rotation of the spindle; and

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FIG. 6 is an end view of one of the bearing blocks.

The winding machine shown in FIG. 1 is of conventional construction andit includes a main shaft mounted in bearings within a housing 10 andhaving a driving pulley 11 mounted on a part of the shaft projecting outof the housing. The pulley is driven through a belt 12 by a motor notshown. A spindle 13 is attached to the other end of the shaft to bedriven thereby and, in the operation of the machine, a core 14 ofpaperboard or other similar material is slipped over the spindle to haveyarn wound thereon. The yarn is distributed along the core to form thepackage by a traverse guide 15 of conventional construction and mode ofoperation.

The spindle of the invention comprises a steel rod 16 of cylindricalform, which is provided with a longitudinal recess 17 extending inwardfrom its peripheral surface. The recess has a flat bottom surface 18 andparallel side walls 19 extending outwardly therefrom. Inward from theends of the recess, the outer edges of the side walls are cut away toform outwardly divergent walls 20.

A bearing block 21 is mounted within the recess at each end thereofbetween the parallel Walls 19 and rests upon a non-metallic gasket 22.Each block has an opening 23 at one end for receiving the pivot of alocking member and the block is held in place by a screw 24, whichpasses through an opening 25 through the block and is threaded into abore 26 leading from the bottom of the recess. The blocks are installedwith their bearing openings opposed.

A locking member 27 is mounted in the recess between the bearing blocksand the member has pivots 28 at its opposite ends which are receivablein the openings 23 in the blocks. The locking member has a flat top 29and outwardly divergent sides 30, the lower edges of which are connectedby a curved surface 31 concentric with the pivots 28. Along its sides,the top is cut away to form outwardly convergent surfaces 32, which meetthe sides 30 in longitudinal edges 33.

The locking member 27 is so formed that, when the spindle is at restwith the side walls 19 of the recess 17 lying vertical and the lockingmember centered in the recess, the longitudinal edges 33 of the memberproject equally beyond the outline of the rod 16. The pivots 28 liecloser to the flat top surface 29 of the member than to the curvedbottom surface 31 and the preponderance of the mass of the member liesinward from a plane, which contains the axis of rotation of the member,that is, the common axis of its pivots, and lies inward from andparallel to the plane containing the longitudinal edges 33 of themember.

In the use of the new spindle, a core can be easily I telescoped overthe spindle, since the longitudinal edges 33 of the locking member donot project sufficiently beyond the outline of the rod 16 to interferewith the telescoping action. The edges indent the inner surface of thecore slightly and, as a result, any slippage of the core causes thelocking member to be rocked on its pivots so as to increase theprojection of one of the edges. Thus, when the spindle is rotatingclockwise, a slight slippage of the core will cause the locking memberto move counterclockwise on the axis of its pivots and the longitudinaledge 33 of the member, which is at the right side of the member as seenin FIG. 4 will be forced more deeply into the inner surface of the coreand prevent its slipping further. Also, as soon as the locking member isoff center, centrifugal force tends to continue its movement and thusincrease the locking action. When the spindle is rotatedcounterclockwise, slippage of the core on the spindle as shown in FIG. 5causes the locking member to move clockwise so that its left hand edge33 is projected farther beyond the outline of the rod 16 and becomesmore deeply imbedded in the inner surface of the core. Again,centrifugal force assists in the locking action.

After the winding operation is completed, the full package of yarn canbe easily removed from the spindle and, for this purpose, the package isgiven a slight angular movement on the spindle in the direction on whichthe spindle was rotated during the formation of the package. Suchmovement of the package causes the locking member to become centered inthe recess and, in that position of the member, its longitudinal edges33 engage the inner surface of the core with so light a pressure that nodifiiculty is encountered in slipping the package and core olf thespindle. The mounting of a new core on the spindle can be performedwithout difiiculty, since the engagement of the core with the edges ofthe locking member tend to cause the member to center itself in therecess, so that its edges in contact with the core offer littleresistance to the telescoping of the core of the spindle.

The dofling and donning of the spindle may thus be carried on quicklyand with no difficulty, whereas, with the conventional spindleconstruction, the removal of the expander screw from the split end ofthe spindle consumes an appreciable amount of time as does the threadingof the screw into the spindle after a new core has been placed inposition. Also, With the spindle of the application, the locking of thecore is automatic and the locking member increases in effectiveness withan increase in spindle speed, which tends to produce greater packageslippage. With the prior spindle, the package is held in place only bythe expansion of the split end of the spindle and, if the expander screwis not threaded fully into place, the expansion of the end of thespindle is ineffective to prevent slippage.

I claim:

1. A rotary spindle for supporting a tubular core while a yarn packageis being wound thereon, which comprises a rod having a longitudinalrecess extending inward from its peripheral surface and a locking memberpivotally supported Within the recess at the ends thereof for rotationon an axis parallel to the axis of the rod and outwardly offset from theaxis of the rod, the member having longitudinal edges at opposite sidesof its upper end, which project outwardly beyond the circumferentialoutline of the rod, said member being swingable about its pivots duringthe rotation of the spindle in either direction to increase theprojection of one of its edges beyond the circumferential outline of therod, to thereby grip a core placed over the rod when the spindle isrotated in either direction.

2. The spindle of claim 1, including bearing blocks having openings intheir opposed faces removably mounted within the recess at its ends andin which the locking member has pivot pins at its ends entering theopenings.

3. The spindle of claim 1, in which the preponderance of the mass of themember lies between two parallel planes, one of which passes through theaxis of rotation of the member, the other of which is tangent to the rodat the point diametrically opposite the axis of rotation of the member,respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,400,585 Wolff May 21, 1946 2,416,785 Welch Mar. 4, 1947 FOREIGNPATENTS 139,15-1 Sweden Feb. 17, 1953

